Aphelion

Every now and then, I run across something that I label "thoughtfood" -- something to just sit and ponder over to see what mysteries it reveals. This is a great essay by Alyssa Rosenberg in The Atlantic magazine on world-building and how it engages (or fails to engage) the reader:

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch ... rld/60746/

That's an interesting article, but it seems pretty clear that the readership will determine how well they like your world. It does give me something more to think about in my current project, though.

I'm in the process of building characters now, more than a world; I'm developing each one's history, personality, motivations, etc., to some detail. Not all that detail will necessarily be given to the reader, but it helps me know how each character will behave. The author of the cited article seems to put quite a bit of weight on character also, which I think is where it belongs; conflict and motive are where the best stories come from, regardless of setting, and sometimes even regardless of action.